Dead, Mostly Dead, and Not So Dead

Every month the pest control company comes out to our house and sprays inside and out.  You would think we would be bug free.  That's the goal anyway, right?  Is that too much to ask here in the desert?

Well, this month they came and Husband told them we found a mostly dead scorpion in the family room and a very large spider in the kitchen since their last visit.  The bug guy's reply?  "At least it was mostly dead."  That kinda irked me.  Mostly dead doesn't cut it with a toddler roaming around.  Not in my opinion.

Well...the next day I found a very dead bee by the sliding glass door in the family room.  One bee?  Eh.  I can handle that.  "At least I found it before Hyrum did" I said as I disposed of him. 

The next day, Hyrum and I were playing in the family room and all of a sudden he is CRYING.  I rush over to find a not so dead bee crawling around by him.  Frantic, I call my mom.  We determine that the bee must have just scared him, not stung him, since he calmed down fairly quickly, I can't find any red bumps, and  because the bee looks intact and is still alive.  So, I kill that sucker of a bee and say "That's for scaring my boy and for scaring the heck out of me."

Well, upon closer examination, I found 13 dead bees by that door. THIRTEEN!  "At least they were dead," right?  Stupid.

That was not the end of them, however.  Since then we have found at least five more bees -- dead and not so dead.

Needless to say I've become a little paranoid.  I'm constantly checking the floor before I let Hyrum down to play.  Every once in a while I get that "Ah! What's on me?!" feeling when there's nothing there at all...It's getting to be a little bit ridiculous.

Terms of Endearment

I have quite a few terms of endearment I have given to my Hyrum Joe.  Here are just a few...

 Troublemaker

 Messmaker

 Smiley Goose

 Little Boy

Goofy Gus

Spring Break Smash

We really enjoyed all of the fun activities we did during Spring Break, but most of all, we enjoyed being able to spend time as a family.  Laughing, visiting, watching the babies, cooking and eating together, hiking...

 

 

 

 

It's good to be a Brown.

Rangers Spring Training 2012

The Browns are huge Rangers fans.  [Yes, I'm a Brown.]  I once remember my mom telling me how she was never a big sports fan until she married my dad.  I inherited the love for playing and watching sports, but it was fun to see how my allegiance to baseball teams shifted when Husband came along (not that my allegiance to the Diamondbacks was ever very strong).  So, in our family we cheer for the Rangers.

 Cousin love.

 Not sure what to think of the grass.

 You gotta give a shout out to the Chik-fil-a Cow who was handing out coupons for free breakfast entrees if you took a picture with him.  Oh good golly, how we love Chik-fil-a breakfasts.

Hooray for beautiful Arizona springtime.  It was the perfect day for a baseball game.

This one made us chuckle..."NO DUMPING"

Oh what a Grand Canyon!

Part of our Spring Break included a short trip to the Grand Canyon, one of my favorite places in the whole world.  This trip was pretty laid back compared to most of my visits.  The first time I hiked down the South Kiabab trail and out the South Bright Angel trail [in one day].  The second time I hiked down the South Kiabab trail and out the North Bright Angel [rim to rim in one day].  I might be insane, but those were remarkable trips that my mom and I will never forget.

This time we did a little two mile hike along the rim trail.  We saw the sights, got the "heebee jeebies" watching dumb people do stupid things too close to the edge, and enjoyed the cool weather.

Tony and I were pretty proud of this shot.

The Browns here are planning a Grand Canyon hike for next year.  I need to keep with the tradition and celebrate graduation with a hike.  I'm excited [even if I said I would never do it again--it was tough]!

 

One of my favorite memories was when we went back to the hotel to pick something up before going to dinner.  Husband got out of the car to run inside.  Grandpa Brown and I were sitting there wondering, "Why is Kemp backing up?" only to realize that Kemp wasn't backing up!  We were rolling forward!  Husband hadn't put the car in park before getting out!  I had quite a laugh.

Summer Activities for Busy Body Boys and Mommas

Hyrum and I have compiled a list of activities (thanks to Pinterest) that we want to do this summer. We will report on the level of entertainment (0-5 stars) from the perspective of a one year old, of course. We'd love input on other fun ideas!

Water painting (paintbrushes, water, and the sidewalk) 
Build a fort
Read stories 
Coloring 
Sock wars (We'll go ahead and rate this 5 stars...ambush dad as he comes out of the bathroom, don't forget the pillow fort to hide behind. Best attack EVER.) 
Throw a party/play date
Kiddie pool (Keepin' cool! Don't forget the sunscreen!) 
Cardboard cars
Pillow piles 
Paper Airplanes 
Flash cards
Play-doh balloons (fill balloons with play-doh for less mess) 
Soda bottle filled with glitter, oil, and water
Ziploc bag painting (paint in ziplock bag = lots of fun, less mess) 
Trip to the library
Museums
Puzzles
Blocks
Puppets 
Balls
Bubbles
Noisemakers

P.S.  Did I mention I got a 69/70 on my Adult Health final?  Now, if I'd only done that well on the other exams... Regardless, I am done and it is summertime!

One More Day

The last few days have given me a taste of what summer will be like and I am SO excited!

I could do without the 100 degree weather, but...

Summer means giving your house some loving attention (aka cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming, doing the dishes as they get put in the sink rather than when you don't have any clean dishes left).  I don't enjoy cleaning the house, but I do enjoy a clean house.

Hyrum and I will get to spend gobs of time together.  Seriously.  We can go for walks (early morning, late evening walks).  We can water the garden.  We can play catch.  We can giggle.  We can eat yummy, healthy food.  We can read books.  We can buy a kiddie pool and make sure it sits squarely in the shade so as to not cause the sun to burn our fair skins.  We can take naps.  It shall be grand fun.

(Side note:  I feel like I can't remember the last time I had a good, long, relaxing break.  Last summer I was taking care of a newborn baby--rewarding, but not relaxing.  The summer before that I was work, work, working...the summer before that I met Tony, but that was the last week of summer and I seriously don't have any memories besides that one...Nevertheless...I am excited for this summer.)

I sat down today and set some goals for the summer.  I want to learn Portuguese.  I want to read good books.  I want to visit the Snowflake Temple with Husband (#14). I want to be a more proficient blogger (as in, officially catch up and stay caught up on the everyday goings on around here).  I want to stay in shape, get in shape, kick my "button gear."

Elder M. Russell Ballard challenged "Spend your energies doing those things that will make a difference."  So, this summer I am also going to do my best to serve others.  I am house sitting for a woman in my ward.  I want to help my mom and dad any way I can (they're busy people, you know, and can use all the help they can get).  I want to do family history and go to the temple as often as I can... I want to help Husband finally find a solution to his career crisis adventure.  There are so many good things to do.

One more day.

Why are you excited for summer?

Love me some Boys

Remember these guys?  Well, here are the three other boys in my life.  Five boys I couldn't be without...

 

Motherhood is...

Motherhood is...

 A messy house...

 ...but not just any messy house.  A messy house with happy children.

Motherhood is joyful.  Motherhood is frustrating.  Motherhood is tiring.  Motherhood is rewarding.  Motherhood is an adventure.  Motherhood is a learning experience.  Motherhood is dirty.  Motherhood is the best thing I've ever done.

 

 

I love being Hyrum's mother.

Easter Sunday

And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him,
this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the
voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—
That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were
created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters
unto God. Doctrine & Covenants 76:22-24

 

First Steps

So ignore the fact that you have to touch your left ear to your shoulder in order to watch this...I'm sorry.  If anyone knows how to rotate a video 90 degrees, I'd love to learn.  In the mean time, I'll try to remember to hold the camera correctly when I want to take a video.

Besides all the logistics of videographing...Can you believe he is walking?  I can hardly believe it myself.  

On my 21st birthday I was laying flat on my back, totally useless, because of excruciating back pain.  It was terrible.  So Hyrum and I had a talk.  I told him it would be my best birthday ever if he would pretty please take his first steps on my birthday.  Sure enough...Right after I opened my gifts he took two steps from his little bike to the coffee table.  I was SO excited.

Now he's not far from being a pro.  He'll be one in just two weeks... *sigh*

To Bike? No.

Let me tell you a story about that time we were going to go for an awesome family bike ride.  Hyrum was lookin' snazzy with his little blue hat and we were ready to ride... And ride we did, until Husband and Hyrum got a flat tire.  It was lame, but fixable.  So, while Husband pulled the tire of, I drove to Walmart, bought a new tube, and picked up some 50+SPF sunscreen for the Boy and myself...

  

New tire on.  We are ready to ride... And ride we did, until Husband and Hyrum got a flat tire...

 

Don't ask me why the same tire went flat not two minutes after we put a brand-spankin'-new tube in.  All I can tell you is it was a lame lame lame bike ride.

Hiking Hyrum

Remember when we were tough and in shape and baby-less?  Remember how we hiked Flat Iron?  I'm still impressed with us.  That was beastly.  I would never do it again...not with a pack.  Definitely not with a baby strapped to me.

I could hardly do this little bitty hike we wanted to do...that's how out of shape I am.  I blame it on nursing school.  So, 3/4 of the way up I pooped out, so Hyrum and I sat on the side of the trail and took pictures.  Husband jogged the rest of the way up and then back down to us.  He is still a beast.

 

We had fun.  We need to do it more often, especially since Husband wants me to relive my glory days and hike the Grand Canyon again.  Boo! for Arizona hot summers!

Anniversary Numero Two

Two years I've been in love with this man.  [Yes, let's pretend I'm up to date on my blog and it's not almost 2 1/2 years already...]  Just today I was reminiscing about how he flew into town a month after we met.  My parents and I picked him up at the airport.  The first thing we did when he got in the car was hold hands.  Then at IHOP...we held hands.  On the way out to the car after IHOP...we held hands.  It felt so right!  It's because he is so right for me!

I'm so grateful that he is so patient with me.  I joke about how he had no idea what he was getting into when he married me and he agrees, but somehow he still loves me and still wants to be married to me everyday!

I love being married to my best friend.  I love that we have started our own little family.  It is such a perfect little family.  Perfect in the sense that we are so happy together.

Hooray for marriage!  Hooray for Hyrum!  Hooray for an anniversary dinner at The Cheesecake Factory!